Between the Mountains
by Ceuriss
Summary: When two twin sisters find themselves the owners of their grandparents run-down farm, will they take the initiative to turn the place into a luxurious ranch or will they cop out and hope for the best? Plot remix, including many characters from many Harvest Moon characters making an appearance in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Read inside for more.
1. Chapter 1

**Setting: **Forget-Me-Not Valley (with some new areas and buildings like a school and all the other different buildings that the other towns normally have like a market and a blacksmiths and whatnot. :3)

**Game Characters Set: **All of them. :3 Would you guys mind if I brought in characters from other game series as well? If you could, I'd love your opinion about this in the reviews – thanks!

**Background Information: **Okay, so to start the story off, we have two twin sisters(imagine seeing Double Akari). The only difference between them in appearance is that Piper has light blue eyes and Avi has light green eyes. Since there's two of them, I decided I couldn't just call them Akari 1 and Akari 2, so I gave them some made up names. I'm sorry if that bothers anyone! They are somewhere between 17 and 19 years old. And the rest will be told in the story.

**Author's Note[8/6/13]: **This chapter was written nearly two years ago, so please forgive the choppy style. The next chapters from here on out will probably be written a smidgen better, but I cannot predict that I can write much better in the future. Oh well, I touched up this chapter a little bit, but I didn't actually rewrite the chapter. Sorry about that. Bear with me until we actually catch up to the point where I've written recently. Thanks for reading and I really, really appreciate reviews of all kind. They keep me motivated and actually feel good that I wrote something people enjoy. Have a nice and enjoy the story.

xxx

**Between The Mountains**

Chapter 1

Life decided to take a turn for the worst when two twin sisters found themselves at a loss for what to do.

A fire ravaged the home of a family of four in the small town. Two of the residents were killed. The parents of two teenage girls. They had no other living relatives. The girls had nowhere to go.

A month or so after the devastating tragedy the sisters received a phone call about their grandparents. They had run a farm back when they were young, but they had passed away when the sisters were still very young so they had barely known them. The lawyer said they had a will that was supposed to be fulfilled if anything happened that left their descendants in need of a home, that the farm was to be given as an inheritance to them.

Xxx

"Alex" Charlotte yelled. No response. "Allllleeexx!" This time, a none too happy moaning could be heard.

"Char… just let me sleep," Alex mumbled in a groggy, half awake voice.

"No, we have to get ready. The plane is leaving in two hours! GET UP!" Charlotte yelled, anger creeping up in her voice. Alex figured it would be a good idea to get up before her sister started to plan something bad to get her up. The cold bucket of water was Charlotte's favorite.

They had been staying at a friend's apartment the past few weeks, but now they were heading out to their grandparents' estate. They had only met them once or twice when they were just little kids, so they weren't really sure what they were getting into. They had to hurry, though, because the plane that would be taking them to a town near the estate was leaving at 11:15 and it was already 9:20.

Xxx

A steady rain rushed off of the awning of the little porch where they waited for the car to pick them up and take them to the estate. They'd already been there for about twenty minutes when the rain had decided to start coming down. Now, almost an hour of sitting waiting to be picked up, they saw a little red pickup truck going slower than the average walking speed poking up the little hill.

Alex sighed, "Is this really what were taking to the estate?" Charlotte just stayed silent, a glum look on her face. As the truck got closer, it got a little faster, as it wasn't going up the hill anymore and as it got to the little porch where the girls were waiting, it just kept going.

"Hey, wait!" Alex said as she dashed out into the rain after the truck, but it didn't stop. Now she regretted it because she was all wet. "I guess… no one's coming," Alex said sadly.

After a few more minutes the rain started to trickle down to a sprinkle, so the sisters decided to head down the small little road to see if they could get some directions.

Xxx

The sun was starting to peak out between the clouds as they reached the bottom of the hill. They kept walking, Alex leading the way a little bit as she was always a little bit more forward than her sister and always ready to find some excitement. They had just started walking over a bridge when an old man in a white tank top came jogging down a small hill out. His eyes grew very wide when he saw the two girls walking over the bridge. Then it hit him, he was supposed to pick them up over an hour again at the bus stop! "I'm sorry!" He said as he stopped in front of them, slightly out of breath from jogging.

Alex and Charlotte just looked at each other and gave each other the 'look' that could say exactly what they were feeling. Confused, indefinitely is what they were feeling.

Charlotte spoke up first, "Excuse me, but why are you apologizing? We've just met!" Avi tilted her head to the side a little, a puzzled expression on her face.

The old man sighed, "I'm apologizing because you had to walk down the mountain and wait at the bus stop. I am so sorry. I was supposed to come and show you the way, but my memory isn't what it used to be." He frowned as he looked at the steep mountain that marked the end of the valley.

A slightly angry expression came over Alex and she mumbled something to herself, because she knew if she disrespected the old man, Charlotte would grill her about it later.

Charlotte smiled, despite the situation, "It's alright. A little exercise never hurt anyone. _Isn't that right, Alex?_" An elbow jabbed Alex in the ribs and she just nodded with a pained look on her face.

The man smiled, "Oh, you must be curious as to who I am. I'm Takakura. I used to help your grandparents, but not anymore, I've gotten too old. I'm actually moving soon, but I said I would help to make the moving go smoothly. I've heard a lot about you two. Alex and Charlotte," Kindness was all that could be heard in his voice and sincerity, but there was also a hint of sadness when he talked of the girls grandparents.

"We never really got to know them…" Alex said sadly.

Takakura noticed that he was making the sisters sad, so he decided to go ahead and show them how to get to the farm. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you how to get to your new home."

xxx

Charlotte couldn't contain herself. Before her was a farm. A real farm. She'd had thought it would be a mansion or a really big house with lots of land… that's just kinda what she thought when she heard the word 'estate.' But this wasn't it. Looking over to Alex, she just stood there with her mouth open looking dumb.

Charlotte cleared her throat, "I can't believe this is all ours!" You could tell from her tone of voice that she was excited about it.

Alex was mumbling again, "Yeah, but it's a bit run down…"

xxx

The sun was starting to go down by time they had moved what was left of their belongings that had survived the fire into the cottage. There were two beds on the opposite sides of the little bedroom with a four-drawer dresser in between with a very eccentric polka dot lamp, a small kitchen that already have a few pots and pans handy, a miniscule TV with knobs instead of buttons – probably black and white it was so old, and a rickety old table with a worn blue and white checked tablecloth. A few other things adorned the almost bare wooden walls including an up to date calendar that actually happened to be the right year.

"I love it already!" Charlotte squealed, her excitement barely contained. She was already making it her own in the very little aspects, like putting her pillow and her small stuffed dog she'd had since she was a child on the bed, arranging it how she always had. Alex, on the other hand, looked miserable.

"Ugh, it smells sooo old and musty. And it looks like it hasn't been lived in for years. Look at all the dust." Alex sighed. She was a neat freak. They'd have to do some updating to this little old farmhouse -starting with the moth-eaten blankets that covered the beds. Obviously no one had bothered to protect the house from years of un-use. Even the table was worn down, even though at one time it was s strong, sturdy oak table with a glossy shine. It wobbled when too much weight was put on one side. Shrugging her shoulders, Alex lugged her suitcase over to the bed opposite of Charlotte's. Unzipping the suitcase, she roved through her clothing until she found her bandana bag.

Alex's bandana bag was her 'signature' item. Alex always wore a bandana, whether it be around her waist, on her neck, on her wrist, or even to wrap around an injury. She had tons of them, none of them to same. She chose and light blue one, the same color as her eyes, with a white pattern giving a little spark. Folding it into a triangle so it would fit right, she tied it around her neck. There was a small mirror that hung in the bathroom that was right next to the bedroom and as Alex fidgeted with the bandana, she smiled, because this was the first bandana her parents had given her. Her smile quickly faded into a frown as she remembered that weren't going to come visit them on their grandparents ranch. They were gone and she'd never get to see them again. Tears began to trickle down her lightly tan and freckled face, but she quickly wiped them away. Piper didn't want Avi to see her crying, because she knew Charlotte would cry right alongside her.

Xxx

Two hours later, the sisters had the small cottage cleaned top to bottom. There was no longer any dust lingering on the bookshelves or the TV, there were fresh flowers adorning the table that gave the room an earthy fresh smell that almost masked the old house smell. They had temporarily replaced the old blankets on their beds with the blankets they'd brought, but they'd definitely need to buy some new bed sheets and blankets. Everything else seemed to already have that home-y touch and feel about it that just made them feel a little bit more at ease about their situation.

After they'd gotten settled in, they were helping Takakura pack his things in his own cottage. He had offered to give the cottage to the girls, but they had declined it. It would be nice later on one day for the girls to each have a separate house, but for now, they enjoyed each other's company too much. They loaded all of the old man's boxes and furniture into bed of an old, beat-up white pick-up truck and waved goodbye as he drove out of sight.

Xxx

Alex's eyes were listlessly staring at the clock on the wall. They'd already been here for most of the day and she was already bored out of her mind. It was 7:30 and the short, early spring days demanded the sun go down at a rather early time, leaving the ranch dark and quiet, aside from the dim light that hung from the ceiling fan in the girls' bedroom. "I'm so bored!" Alex shouted, slamming her face down into her pillow.

Piper and Avi had tried to watch some TV, and possibly be able to find some of their favorite TV shows, but to no avail. The TV only had four channels and only three of them worked. There was a weather channel, a channel that was random and broadcast an assortment of things, and a channel that told about local events. After watching the weather forecast about five times, they retreated to their rooms and tried to find something to entertain themselves with.

"You didn't bring any cards with you, did you?" Charlotte asked, lying on her back on her bed, staring at the fan going around and around. Alex just groaned and let out an annoyed hiss.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. The two sisters sprung up at the sudden noise and Piper rushed out of the room, Charlotte close on her heels, into the small living room where the door was. Flinging the door open she saw a guy around her own age, but a good bit taller. Orange-yellow hair adorned his head topped with a blue gray cap with UMA printed on the front. He looked like a stable hand or a mechanic in the jumpsuit he was wearing. His face was well tanned and his face was smooth and strong. His eyes were a piercing blue. Alex just stood there, gaping while Charlotte pushed her out of the way of the door to save her from looking any more stupid.

"Hey… um, could I help you?" Charlotte said, wondering why the random hot guy had shown up on their doorstep.

"Oh, sorry, Old Man Tak said to drop these off. He'd said you'd probably need them." The guy motioned to a chest that was behind him. Walking over to it, the guy picked up the large wooden chest by himself that probably Alex and Charlotte together could probably barely lift.

The two girls got quickly out of the doorway and the guy brought the chest in and set it by the door. He gave them a smile and started heading for the door. "Alright, well see you later!" As he opened the door, Charlotte rushed towards him to get his attention.

"Hey, wait… who are you? And what's in that box?" Charlottes's tone was a little bit demanding.

The guy's expression became one of a shocked persons, and smacked his hand to his forehead. "Oh yeah, I'm Gray! Heh, forgot you didn't know anyone. I work on one of the other ranches. Nice to meet you," Gray flashed them another smile.

Alex sighed her daydreaming sigh and Charlotte shook her head. "Well, I'm Charlotte and that's my sister Alex. Ignore her, she's an idiot most of the time," Charlotte chuckled a little bit.

"Awesome, well, I've gotta get back, so I'll see you guys around later!" With that, he opened the door and started jogging towards the exit of their home.

Avi closed the door and looked over to Alex, where she was just grinning from ear to ear.

"He's sooo cute!" Alex exclaimed, jumping up and down. "If all the guys in this town are like this, oh man, I'm going to love it here,"

Charlotte just gave Alex a glare that meant something along the lines of _'here we go again.'_


	2. Chapter 2

**Between The Mountains**

Chapter 2

"Well, what is it?" Alex said, through a bleary-eyed yawn, limply pointing at the chest Gray had brought in. Her eyes were starting to droop and she could feel sleep starting to edge its way through her body.

Charlotte just simply shrugged. She was showing similar signs as her sister, feeling to sleepy to give much of any other reply. The sun had crawled slowly down the sky during the afternoon, but once it reached the edge of the sky, it started racing down. Now the stars shone brightly above and the moon was starting to make its appearance in the brilliant wide open sky.

"Well open it and find out!" A grouchy tone could be heard in Alex's voice. Shoving Charlotte to the side, she reached for the latch on the chest and pushed the lid open. Inside lay several different tools. A sickle, a watering can, and a hoe were among them.

"Um…" That was all Charlotte managed to say before Alex shouted.

"What the hell is this for?" Piper seemed none too happy to see farming tools inside the chest.

Avi leaned over to investigate the chest, plucking a use watering can from the pile of tools. She raised an eyebrow at it, "Maybe we're supposed to use them? I mean… I saw fields and buildings. Weren't our grandparents farmers or ranchers, or whatever they call them?" Avi was trying to remember the few stories about their grandparents, but they were so vague she couldn't re-call any details.

Piper's eyes went wide as she glanced down into the box and something white caught her eyes. It was a note taped to the inside of the lid of the chest.

_Dear girls,_

_I am terribly sorry to hear about your parents. They were truly wonderful people. I have missed them dearly since they left the valley. I hope this letter finds you doing well. You may have started to wonder why I had one of my apprentices deliver this chest of tools, it is because I believe you two could start the farm back up again._

_If you inherited anything from your grandparents, I hope it was a love of farming. Caring for animals, tiling the soil to yield luscious crops, all of those wonderful things. You don't have to, but it would be a great source of income for you two, or else you may have to find a job around town, and they would not be as near as fun._

_If you have any questions about anything, you can always come and ask me at the blacksmith. I'm sure anyone around town would be willing to lend a hand here and there if you asked nicely._

_Well, hope you have a great day and hope to see you very soon!_

_Sincerely,_

_Saibara the Blacksmith_

Charlotte and Alex sighed at the same moment. Alex jumped up and threw herself onto her bed, letting out another sigh, this one more loud and dramatic.

Avi just looked over her, "This isn't going to be easy, is it?"

"You knew it was never going to be easy the second they told us Mom and Dad were gone. You knew it! I knew it! Everyone knew it! But no one said ANYTHING!" Alex screamed the last part, throwing her pillow angrily against the wall. Tears were starting to roll down her face. Oh how she missed her parents. Their loving embraces, the kisses on the forehead goodnight, early Saturday morning pancake breakfasts, random hiking trips. All of that was gone and she'd never have it back.

Charlotte was feeling the same way, but remained calm. Alex would cry herself out eventually, but that would take all night. Standing up and walking over quietly to her sisters bed, she wrapped her arm around her sister. "Shh… it's alright. You've got me and I'm never going to leave you, okay? It's alright, you can stop crying. I miss Mom and Dad, too, but we've got to be strong for them."

Slowly, Alex's sobs turned into sniffles and then finally it altogether stopped. She never broke down like this, but tears tried to surface every time she thought of her parents. Alex missed them so much and it was unfair that they had been taken away from them so suddenly. Her heart had been torn into a million pieces in under a minute and it would take a very long time to piece it together. Her fake smile looked even more like a sham now, she just didn't feel up to putting on a real smile.

As the night wore and Alex regained her composure, Charlotte crawled into her own bed and quickly went to sleep. She'd always had a knack for falling asleep in under two minutes. Alex envied this aspect of her.

Finally, the Alex managed to get to sleep after a dreadfully long day.

Xxx

Dawn came too early for Alex. She lay restless on her old bed, tossing and turning, fighting wakefulness, only wanting to go back to sleep and not face the day. To no avail, the brown-haired girl could not go back to sleep. Letting out an irritated huff, she silently slid from her bed and slipped on her regular clothes, careful not to wake Charlotte. Alex slid out the door, quietly closing the front door to their house. She winced as the door let out an unforgiving creak, but Charlotte gave no signs to waking up.

_Thank the Harvest Goddess that she's a heavy sleeper, _Alex thought to herself as she examined the dawn-lit world around her. She just wanted to have a little alone time to sort everything out in her head. The thing about having a twin sister is that everyone always lumps you together, forcing you to be intertwined in every single aspect of your life, whether you want to or not.

She continued down the path that led from the house, following the fence that contained an extremely overgrown field. There was a large oak tree in the middle of the field. It looked like it had been there forever, but it continued swaying on in the breeze like today was the first day. Alex sighed, wishing she could just sway with the breeze like the old oak tree, not a care in the world.

Alex walked on, following a path that wound around the river, following the worn path into a dense forest, the trees overhead making it like night again. The surroundings sudden shift surprised Alex, especially when she saw giant flowers that gave off an eerie, but comforting glow. There was a small pond, surrounded by smaller flowers. Alex shuffled over to the pond, taking a seat by the water's edge. She plucked a small yellow flower, twiddling it.

She felt at peace here, nature all around her, no hubbub of the city, not even of the small village down the path. Alex stripped off her hiking boots and lowered her feet into cool water, wriggling her toes in the refreshing cold. She lay back amongst the flowers and inhaled a deep breath, enjoying herself. A small rustle made her perk her head up, but she saw nothing. Her light blue eyes closed, drifting off to the sound of the water lapping lightly at the bank.

"Hey," A high-pitched voice whispered.

Alex flailed upwards, the sudden voice scaring her. She whipped her head around, but saw no one. _Oh great, I'm already delirious in this forsaken village. _

"Miss, excuse me, Miss!"

For sure, Alex had heard a high pitched voice beside her. She looked down and saw a small creature in a red hat and tunic. It was almost like a tiny elf, just unbelievably small. Alex's eyes grew round with shock as she jumped away from the creature, immediately becoming defensive.

"What… what the hell are you!?" Alex whispered, gesturing to the small creature in front of her, standing no taller than the top of her boots which came to about the middle of her calf.

The little elf tilted its head to the side, giving Alex an inquisitive look. "Why, I'm a Harvest Sprite, silly."

Alex looked positively bewildered. "There's no such thing as a Harvest Sprite, that's just a myth to scare children."

"Scare children? What, we love children!" The little red Harvest Sprite cantered back, confusion edging his voice.

"Yeah, eating children, cooking their insides for dinner and tanning their skin for your clothes," Alex said, reciting a myth she'd been told as a child.

The elf before her let his mouth drop, apparently appalled at such a statement. "You… you think we eat children? Oh dear, oh dear! This is not good. We love children and nature and would never want to hurt such innocent and pure beings." The Harvest Sprite nodded furiously at his statement.

Relaxing a bit, Alex squatted down to examine the creature. Upon closer observation, she could see a kind light shining in the creature's green eyes, his clothes made from leaves and branches and other assorted materials found in nature. Perhaps she had been wrong about the Harvest Sprites, because at least this one seemed genuinely kind.

"Well, what do you want?" Alex muttered apprehensively, inching backwards a little bit.

The little elf just smiled a kind, sweet smile. "I just wanted to say hello~ You're new and I thought it would be nice to introduce myself. I'm Nac. Nice to meet you." The sprite extended his tiny hand towards Alex who reach down with two fingers to shake his minuscule hand.

Alex gave a small smile, "I'm Alex. Just moved into the new farm down the way," Alex motioned towards the direction she thought she had come from.

Nac jumped up and down, apparently very excited. "A new farmer, a new farmer! Nic! Flak! A new farmer," Nac ran around excitedly in a small circle and a moment later, two more sprites popped up from the tall grass and flowers, one larger one in yellow, and a much smaller one in blue.

"Did you say a new farmer? Is this her?"

"Oh boy! New farmers are the best"

Alex took a step, berated by the sudden onslaught of high-pitched sprite voices that poked her with endless questions. After a few minutes of talk between Alex and the three sprites, she felt more confident about the idea of taking over the farm. They told her some creative ways to start farming and even gave her a few packs of seeds to get her started on the farm.

"Don't forget to come and visit often!" Nac shouted, jumping up and down, waving his tiny hand.

Alex waved back as she walked back down the path towards the house. She felt more positive about the whole situation of taking over the position of dead family members.

By the time the girl arrived back at the farm, the sun was starting to peak over the top of the mountains, the weather starting to get warm. Dawn felt so long ago to Alex. But, to Charlotte, who was just opening her eyes as her sister walked back into the cabin, felt like it was way too early for the sun to be filtering through the blinds.

When her eyes adjusted to the light, Charlotte sat up, glancing over at her sister. She was humming as she rustled around in the pantry, rummaging around for something, presumably breakfast. Charlotte glanced at the clock that hung beside the window; it read 9:17 AM. Charlotte let out a sleepy yawn, she normally slept until the middle of the afternoon because she was more or less a night owl, but here she was, awake before 10 o'clock.

Charlotte stumbled over to where Alex was hovering a now-simmering frying pan, still humming a pleasant tune. "You're chipper today," Charlotte brushed her frazzled, bed-head bangs out of her eyes, watching her sister cook.

Alex just nodded, stirring the contents of the frying pan. "Gonna try messing around with some of those tools today."

Charlotte stared wide-eyed at Alex. Alex was the girl who never cared much to leave the couch, preferring to play video games to going outside and spending time on the computer. Charlotte was usually more of the type of person to pursue a life outdoors, but here they were, roles reversed for the first time in their lives, with Charlotte wanting nothing more than to crawl back under the covers and go back to sleep.

Alex looked at her sister, giving her a pleasant smile, "You'll never believe what happened while you were sleeping."

xxx

**Author's Note;; **Sorry, I'm terrible with endings, but I guess it's not as bad as it could be? Next chapter will be completely new and not mixed with all writings, so I hope you all are looking forward to it!

I'll update when there are more reviews. Yes, you're not imagining things, the character's names have changed. Sorry, the writer does not like their old names. I miss writing this story, really, I do.


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